


Under the Bamboo Tree

by laughingacademy



Category: Lovecraft Country (TV)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Korean War, Mild Gore, Period-Typical Racism, Racism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:41:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28127046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laughingacademy/pseuds/laughingacademy
Summary: Most of their classmates and colleagues admired Ji-ah as a rock-steady nurse who never flinched at blood and was seemingly deaf to screams, but thought she was too straight-laced and awkward to be any fun. Young-ja, however, knew better.
Relationships: Ji-Ah & Young-ja Unni
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Under the Bamboo Tree

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Measured_Words](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Measured_Words/gifts).



> Written for the prompt, "I absolutely *LOVED* the Korean War episode, and Ji-Ah, so much! I was really fascinated by her friendship with Young-Ja. I definitely thought there could be more to it, and would be happy to read about that, but am also down to just read about their friendship and [Ji-Ah] learning how to People. Did she ever tell [Young-Ja] the truth? What did she think about Ji-Ah's comments about her mother expecting her to bring home men? What else did she learn, other than *how* to have friends? And how did that happen?"
> 
> I've tagged this story as "Ji-Ah & Young-ja Unni" Gen, but I'd say there's canon-equivalent subtext happening.

The day after they saw a man lynched in the street, Ji-ah took a seat next to Young-ja at the dabang, a cup of coffee in her right hand.

“How’s your wrist?” Young-ja asked.

Ji-ah set down her drink, took off her pink coat, pushed up the left sleeve of her blouse, and obediently presented her forearm for inspection. “I’ve got a new joke,” she said, bending her wrist and rotating her hand as Young-ja traced the flexor tendons with a thumb. “Would you like to hear it?”

Young-ja pursed her lips. Most of their classmates and colleagues admired Ji-ah as a rock-steady nurse who never flinched at blood and was seemingly deaf to screams, but thought she was too straight-laced and awkward to be any fun. Young-ja, however, knew better. ”Sure.”

Once Young-ja let go of her arm, Ji-ah mimed picking up a telephone receiver. “A G.I. from Georgia (that’s in the American South, where _Gone with the Wind_ is set)...” Young-ja nodded to show she understood. “...calls home and says, ‘Ma, I got married!’ 

“‘Oh, that’s wonderful!,’ his mother replies. ‘What’s her name? Where did you meet her?’

“‘Uh, well, she’s, uh ... a local girl.’” 

Young-ja chuckled and sipped her coffee as Ji-ah pretended to wipe sweat from her brow. She wondered if her friend was mimicking someone in particular, or playing the role of a generic American soldier. 

“‘Her name is Soon-hee, but she goes by Sunny. I’m sure you’ll like her, Ma.’”

Young-ja held up a finger. “Wait,” she said, after she’d swallowed, “isn’t that your mother’s name?”

Ji-ah dropped out of character and shrugged. “Coincidence. Should I go on?”

“Please do.”

“The soldier’s mother says, ‘Well, I’ll be so happy to see you home!’” Ji-ah clapped her hands. “‘And when you get back, you and your wife can sleep in my bed.’

“‘Oh, no, Ma, you don’t have to do that. We can sleep in my old room.’

“‘Don’t be silly, son, that room is too small for a single man, never mind a married couple.’

“‘But we don’t want to put you to all that trouble.’

“‘Oh, ha ha ha, it’s no trouble at all!” Ji-ah smiled widely, leaned towards Young-ja, and dropped her voice as she hissed, “‘Because the moment that slant-eyed bitch sets foot in my house, I’m slitting my throat!’”

Young-ja goggled at her, one hand coming up to cover her twitching mouth. 

Ji-ah turned to her neglected coffee. “It’s probably funnier if you’re a white man from Georgia,” she said, spooning sugar into her cup.

At that, Young-ja snorted, which set off Ji-ah, and the two of them rocked in their seats for a few seconds, stifling giggles with their fists. 

“Our noble allies,” Young-ja drawled when she could talk again. “Did one of them teach you that joke?” 

Ji-ah shook her head. “It wasn’t told to me. I wasn’t meant to hear.” She frowned at the sound of scraping chairs as the trio of nurses at a neighboring table stood up. “Should we be heading to the hospital?”

“Yeah, probably,” Young-ja replied, brushing crumbs off her beige coat before putting it on. 

Ji-ah gulped the rest of her coffee. “Are you warm enough in that?”

“It’s fine for now,” Young-ja said, knotting her scarf. “I’m saving up to buy a better one in the fall.” 

A discussion of the best places to shop for coats and hats lasted until they reached the intersection where the hanging had happened the night before. There was no trace left of the body that had jerked and dangled, or the crowd of jeering bystanders, yet they both paused and looked into the street.

“Maybe we should have gone another way,” Young-ja said.

“It’s the most direct route, though.” A few steps later, Ji-ah blurted, “I've told my mother about you.”

Young-ja blinked. “You told her —”

“That you are my friend. That I have one person who likes who I am, not who I might be.” Ji-ah gave her a watery smile, then ducked her head.

“Of course I like you. And you like me.” 

Ji-ah sniffed and nodded. 

“Because we’re both ladies of good taste and keen judgement. Hey, _If you like-a me, like I like-a you, and we like-a both the same/I like-a say, this very day, I like-a change your name._ ”

Young-ja hadn’t watched _Meet Me in St. Louis_ as many times as Ji-ah, since she thought it was a silly movie about silly people with no real problems, but she had to admit that some of the songs were catchy. 

The tune had the desired effect: Ji-ah linked arms with Young-ja and chimed in on the next line. _“‘Cause I love-a you, and love-a you true, and if you-a love-a me/One live as two, two live as one, under the bamboo tree.”_

A pair of M.P.s strolled past, headed in the opposite direction. Young-ja noticed that one turned to look back at them. She wondered if the man was just girl-watching, or if he was trying to match their faces with a description.

Ji-ah saw him, too. “I think that baeg-in was giving you the eye,” she murmured, glancing over her shoulder as they walked.

“More likely he was checking you out,” Young-ja said. “Do you think your mother would kill herself if you brought one of them home?”

“Not a chance. Actually, she’s been urging me in that direction. ‘They’re all just men,’ she says.” Ji-ah sighed.

Young-ja turned to face forward, and resolutely told herself that she was imagining the smell of blood in the air.

* * *

The night after Young-ja put herself in front of the Americans' guns, Ji-ah, having burned her pink coat and picked all the bits of skull and brain out of her hair, considered whether or not she should bring Il-sung to her house. He and Young-ja had shared at least one secret. He might give her memories of Young-ja, maybe the last new ones she'd ever have. But, his would be the one-hundredth soul. What if her mother were right, and she — the kumiho — was expelled from this body?

She decided to sleep on it. In her dream, she howled and wept as she demolished snowmen with a baseball bat. She woke knowing that whatever happened to Il-sung, she would play no part in his death.

The mudang would probably say she was following her destiny, but Ji-ah liked to think she made an unselfish choice.

**Author's Note:**

> This went a little darker than I anticipated. 
> 
> I am of Asian descent but not Korean, so I'm writing about a culture and a time period which are unfamiliar to me. If there is anything inaccurate or offensive in the story, please let me know.
> 
> Korean words in the story:
> 
>   * **Dabang** : An establishment that primarily serves coffee, tea, and other non-alcoholic drinks.
>   * **Baeg-in** : "White man"; colloquially, "whitey."
>   * **Mudang** : A shaman, usually female, in the polytheistic and animistic religion which predated the introduction of Buddhism or Confucianism to Korea.
>   * **Kumiho** : A nine-tailed fox or fox spirit. In _Lovecraft Country_ the kumiho is a spirit which has been conjured into the body of a woman, whereas in Korean folklore a fox which has lived for a thousand years and grown nine tails becomes a kumiho and gains the ability to shapeshift into a human form. 
> 

> 
> "Under the Bamboo Tree," performed by Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien in _Meet Me in St. Louis,_ was written by J. Rosamond Johnson (music) and Bob Cole (lyrics).
> 
> I, laughingacademy, have not given my permission for my work to be posted on any third-party website or app .


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